Insert strainer plug for well casings



Feb. 6, 1951 M. M. KINLEY 2,540,123

INSERT STRAINER PLUG FOR WELL cAsINGs Filed Jan. 6, .1945

Patented Feb. 6, .1,951

Es rasant* OFFICE INSERT STRAINER PLUG FOR WELL f f 1 f CASINGS l liyijon M. Kinley, Houston, Tex.

Application January 6, 1945, Serial No. 571,580

The invention relatesv to improvements `in insert strainer members insertible inv casings -in situ in a well bore and is directed particularly to a strainer member which will project fromthe casing into the productive formation'with the view of conducting a fluid from :the formation through the strainer and allowing it^to discharge into 'the casingin the Wel1.-'fffrf:1=.

In one ofthe principal procedur sfors'cmpleting wells at the present tinief the f wellfis'; drilled throughV the formation `which isbeliev'ed' topontain the `desired fluidssuch as oilrmateror-fgas, the casing isi'un into'postionrandcementedin place, completely closing-ioir-theiproductive sformation. The next step isotathenfperforatefthe casing by discharging bullets ftherethroughtvhich are intended to penetrate the casingffrand the cement thereabout so asto providean opening from the -productiveformation into the interior ofthe casing. The bullets, in orderito'have vs'uficient power to penetrate the casing x'andthe cement, must be of such a'size that4 they provide a relatively large opening inthe pipeand "the cement, and the result is that whenran 'inow into the casing occurs a great deal 'of'sand and other foreign matter from the productivef'ormation immediately ow into the casing, causing the well to sand up and in some instances to stick the shooting tool inside of the casing. When the' well is shot then a strainer or other pipe islowered inside of the casing so as to exclude thesand and otherforeign matter entering the casing; and the straining is performed bythe filter or strainer inside of the casing. In some'instances quantities of Igranular material are deposited 'inside the-easing around the strainer toform'a 'filter pack in attempting to keep the sand awayv from the strainer. 1'

The present invention contemplates a solution of this problem by providing a 'bullet with which to perforate the casing wherein-the 4bullet 'is in the form of a strainer sothat-thebulletfmay be punched or forced through the casing', surrounding cement andprojectinto` the productive formation so as to ll the opening which is thus made and to strain theV fluids entering the casing and exclude the sand and other foreign" matter.

It is, therefore, one of the objects of the invention to provide'a strainer member which is adapted for insertion' in the well bore.

Another object of the invention is to Vprovide an insert strainer member to perforate a :Well casing and the cement there'around and conduct the productive fluid into 'th'ewell while straining the foreign matter therefrom. f.

afname. (o1. ies-s) Still another obje-ct of the invention is to-provvide an insert strainer `made up of a body having flow passages and a quantity of filter niaterial therein.

Still another object of the invention is to provide ,an insert strainer having flow passages therein which will project through a casingand the surrounding cement and into a productive formation so as to ycontrol-the volume of fiuids entering the` well casing;

other and further objects of the-invention will @be readily apparent when the followingdescription is considered in connection with the accompanyingvdraWings,-in.which; .i

Fig. v1 is-a vertical section View ofv a toolin positionready to insert one o f the insert strainers intoa well casing; A y Fig. 2 is abroken sectional viewshowing4 the insert strainer as having been punched through the casing;

. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of one of --the strainer inserts which has been punched through the casing, the cement therearound and casing and the cement by having the forward end Ii and the tapered area i2 thereabout punched through the easing and cement. This punching operation creates the opening I4 in the pipe and i5 in the cement so that the rear end i6 of the insert is flush with the interior surface I7 of the casing. The forward end il of the insert is shown as projecting beyond the surface of the Well bore 3 and into'the productive formation 5 to such an extent that the flow passages or orifices 2t have their outer ends 2| open to the productive formation 5. A plurality of these passages 25! are shown as extending radially outwardly of the body portion 25 of the insert and they are inclined forwardly to form the entrances for the fluid from the formation. All of these passages 2i! lead into a central chamber 21, which is formed in the interior of the body 25. This chamber 21 is partly filled with a granular material 28, 'as best seen in Fig. 3, which material is of a type to form a `Asuitable'filtergloody-zor strainer for the fluids entering the insert through the passages 20. In order to confine this granular material, a perforated disc 30 is shown as having been inserted into the body 25 and the chamber 21, and the disc is held in place by a bushing 35, which may be welded at 32 or otherwise affixed so as to anchor the disc in place. The disc is provided with the perforations 33 so as to allow for a flow of fluid from the formation into the interior of the casing.

It seems obvious that any desired number of these inserts I may be punched through the casing so as to accommodate the desired flow of uid from the formation into the casing.

It is intended that these inserts will be positioned after the casing has been anchored in the well bore and that they will form their own openings when punched into position and will be rmly held by the frictional engagement with the casing and the cement material. These inserts maybe of any desired size and construction and, of course, the size of the passages and the size of the granular material 28 will be predetermined so as to exclude the sand or other foreign matter from the formation.

This insert may be positioned or punched lthrough the casing and the cement by the Means for Explosively Inserting Orices in Pipe in Wells as set forth in m'y prior co-pending application Serial No. 453,008, filed July 31, 1942, now Patent No. 2,426,106, granted August 19, 1947, wherein lbroadly an insert orifice bullet or bushing is claimed.

In order to illustrate the tool described .in my above noted prior application, a vertical sectional view thereof has been illustrated in Fig. 1 where the casing 40 is shown as being made up of the sections 4l and 42, which are joined by a threaded coupling 43. The tool is made up of a body 46, which carries a spring finger 41 adapted to snap into the opening 48 formed by the coupling and the pipe ends due to the provision of a nger 49 normally forced outwardly by a spring 50. This body has an explosion chamber 52 threaded to its upper end and a coupling 53 carries the head 54 so that the tool may be suspended by the connection 55 and the vplunger 56 movable in the head 54. A suitable wire line or other manipulating device may be connected to the plunger 55 so that the tool can be suspended thereon and lowered into the well bore. When the approximate elevation is reached where the insertion is to be made, the tool will be raised slightly to cause the finger 41 t0 snap into the opening 48. This locates the tool with respect to the coupling 43 and the tool is now ready for operation to insert the bushing.

To accomplish this inserting operation a lowering action is performed on `the supporting mechanism so that the plunger 56 drops sharply to strike a firing pin 58 so as to cause it to shear a pin 59 in the coupling 53 and to cause the firing pin to strike the cartridge 60. The cartridge thus explodes and drives the wedge member 6| downwardly in the explosion chamber 62 so that the wedge face 63 thereof bearing against the carrier 64 will cause the carrier to move radi-ally outward in the opening 65 from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2. This carrier has the insert strainer I0 releasably connectedto its forward face 68 so that the force of the wedge member 6| will cause the insert member to punch the opening I4 through the casing and will move the insert to the position shown in Fig. 2, where the rear end. I6 thereof is flush with the inner surface I1 of the casing 2. In this manner a controlled movement is had so that the insert strainer is moved to the proper position when the heel portion 10 of the wedge 6| moves along the rear face H of the carrier 64. A recess 'I2 allows the wedge member to pass beyond the carrier and come to rest against the stop member 13 in the body 45. The tool may now be raised by lifting on the'conn'ection plunger 55 so that the carrier 64 is pulled loose from the insert strainer I 0.

While the invention has been shown and described as applied to av casing, it seems obvious that the inserts may be applied to a production string of pipe or even to tubing. For instance, the casing could be set, perforated, the production string run into place and then the strainer inserts punched-into the production pipe either with or without gravel packing.

If desired, of course, the granular material may be omitted and the straining function performed by the passages '20, which would be made of the desired size, shape or number. Such passages could :be provided in the end il rather than in the sides 'as shbwn, or slots of a suitable size might be The passages 33 in the disc 30 -could 'be used as the strainer or as a secondary strainer area.

In some instances where a pipe such as the pipe 2 is stuck in 'a well, a lnumber of large in- -serts like the 'insert I0 may 4be punched 'into the pipe at the same elevation so as to weaken the overall strength 0f the pipe suiiiciently to permit the .pipe to be pulled in two. Such a pipe cutting operation is preferable to depositing a shot of explosive in the well-or pipe.

What is 4claimed is:

LAn insert strainer plug for insertion in a well pipe insita Iin wells comprising -a body, a solid forward en'd thereon adapted to be punched through the pipe, la chamber in the body open to the rearward end thereof, a plurality of flow inlets extending from openings in the periphery of the body a substantial distance rearwardly of the forward -end thereof into said chamber, a body a substantial 4distance rearwardly of the forward end thereof of granular ltering material in the chamber to lter the flow of fluid from the well, and means to retain said granular material in said chamber.

2. An insert strainer plug for insertion in a well pipe in Vsitu in wells comprising a body, a solid forward 4end thereon to punch a hole through the pipe, a chamber in the body open to the rearward end thereof, a plurality of flow inlets extending from openings in the periphery of the body a substantial distance rearwardly of the forward end thereof into said chamber, a body a substantial distance rearwardly of the forward end thereof of granular filtering material in the chamber to ilter the flow of uid from the well, and means to retain said granular material in said chamber including a perforate plate, said body being of a length to extend through the pipe and project beyond a layer of cement about the pipe and position said inlet openings in communication with a. well formation beyond the cement.

3. An insert strainer plug for wells comprising a body, a solid forward end thereon adapted to be punched through the pipe, a chamber in the body open to the rearward end thereof a plurality of flow inlets extending from the periphery of the body into said chamber rearwardly of said solid forward end, a. body of granular filtering material in the chamber to lter the flow of fluid from the Well, and means to retain said granular material in said chamber including a perforate plate and a retainer bushing both disposed in said chamber, said body being of a length to extend -behind said end, said end of'a length to project beyond the outer periphery of the pipe when inserted therein, flow passages'laterally of said body opening outwardly from said chamber directly behind said end and beyond the pipe periphery, a body of lter material disposed in said chamber, and ported means to retain the iilter material in the body.

MYRON M. KlNLEY.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 789,867 McCallum May 16, 1905 828,956 McEvoy Aug. 21, 1906 1,092,040 VGregory Mar. 31, 1914 1,847,613 Jones Mar 1, 1932. 2,078,426 Sweet Apr. 27, 1937 2,212,044 l Ridley 1 Aug. 20, 1940 2,302,567 ONeill Nov. 17, 1942 2,361,929 Schlumberger Aug. 14, 1945 2,426,106 Kinley Aug. 19, 1947 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,540,123 .V February 6, 1951 MYRON M. KINLEY It is hereby certified that error appears inthe printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column L1, lines 45 and 46, and lines 58 and 59, strike out the words a substantial distance rearwardly of the forward end thereof,

andv that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the Ysame may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oliice.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of May, A. D. 1951.

[SEAL] THOMAS F; MURPHY,

Assistant Gommz'ssz'oner of Patents. 

